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Books: Find Books in the Library: Find by Topic

How to find a book owned by Pfau Library.

Printable Handout

Printable, brief version (two pages) of this guide.

OneSearch: Books & Media CSUSB

Find books, videos, and other items from CSUSB in OneSearch:

Search Tips

If you get no results or too few results:

Check your spelling. Avoid punctuation marks, like colons or dashes.

Avoid typing long phrases or questions. Use only the most important keywords.

Choose different keywords for your search. Think of related terms or synonyms.

For example, if your search was: Latino voting
Try instead: Hispanic voting

Evaluating your Results

Don't just pick the first result on the list; skim the titles first. A book could contain all your keywords but still not be useful!

Click on the title to get more information about the book. A summary, reviews, table of contents, subject headings, and a link to the Google preview version may be available.

The results list will display the location, call number, and check-out status of each item.

NOTE: Not everything in the Library Catalog is a book! You might see records for journals, government documents, master's theses, videos, or CD's. Look at the icons next to each item for clues to what type of material it is.